Ruling to allow schools to retain English as a teaching medium is criticized

An education concern group is questioning the Education Bureau's decision to allow substandard English secondary schools to retain English as a teaching medium. It argues that this is unfair to "Chinese schools".

Under the current policy introduced in 2009, an English school needs to switch to Chinese if it fails to meet the required standards after a six-yearly review.

The requirements are subject to a "student ability" criterion, in which a school should fill 85 percent of places with the "top 40 percent" of students in Hong Kong in terms of academic credentials.

Falling student numbers caused by low birth rates in the city mean some of these schools have been admitting students who are not qualified under the current system.

Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim announced last Friday that schools would not be forced to change teaching languages based on assessments of students' ability. All schools would retain the status quo. The current policy will remain in place for six years, beginning from September 2016.

Ng explained the decision was made because the system was now "deep-rooted" in some schools. It also took time for language policies to develop and function before they could be reviewed.

Local concern group Education Convergence (EC) questioned the decision, saying it could be unfair to schools that have managed to match the criteria for a language switch.

Schools that used Chinese as a medium would see no hope of a language switch even if they outperformed "English schools", said EC Vice-President and Principal of Chinese secondary school Elegantia College Ho Hon-kuen. Ho added that "such arrangements were unfair".

The group urged the government to disclose the list of "English schools" that failed to meet the 85-percent threshold to give the parents the right to choose. In the long term, all schools should be given free choice of their own teaching language.

But the Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council felt differently. Chairman James Lam Yat-fung accepted the government's rationale, saying that the Education Bureau's promised assistance to teacher training would properly address concerns over teaching quality in subpar "English" schools.

Schools were free to choose their teaching medium until 1997, when the government promoted mother-tongue education.

The policy was blamed for a decline in students' English proficiency. The 2009 policy was intended to eliminate language-based distinctions and grant schools discretion in deciding their choice of a teaching medium.

luisliu@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/09/2015 page7)